The Most Important 'O' People Trivia Quiz

Answer: Origen

Origen was born in Alexandria, then a province of imperial Rome. At a young age he saw his father, Leonides, killed during the persecution of Septimius Severus of 202. Origen developed a very powerful desire to spread the faith using his mental faculties, and began to write commentaries and exegeses on religious writings.

He was extremely prolific in his writings, and there are some claims that he wrote nearly 6,000 different works (probably exaggerated). Upon Origen's death (also during a persecution), his ideas, which included an attempted marriage of Neo-Platonic philosophy with Christianity, had spread throughout the learned Christian community.

Answer: Julius

Through the efforts of Oppenheimer and the other scientists employed in the Manhattan Project (such as Feynman, Teller and Fermi), the atomic bomb was developed at the latter stages of World War II. Oppenheimer was against the use of atomic power for violent purposes, and regretted powerfully his contribution to the creation of the bomb in retrospect, encapsulating his feelings in a quote: 'I am become death: the destroyer of worlds'. Later in his career he worked toward promoting the peaceful use of atomic power, but his connections with the communist party (of which he was once a member) disabled him from making progress in this regard. Oppenheimer lived from 1904 to 1967.

Answer: Odoacer

Things did not change greatly under Odoacer when he took power over Italy in 476, but the symbolic power of his victory was greatly felt across the Mediterranean. In fact, Odoacer's triumph prompted the emperor of Byzantium to send Theodoric to Ravenna to face off against the upstart King of Italy. In 493, Odoacer was defeated by Theodoric, but was invited to share power. At a banquet, at which Odoacer was the guest of honor, Theodoric murdered his erstwhile partner, taking power for himself in Ravenna.

Answer: Germany

Ohm's most significant contribution to physics is his law, appropriately entitled Ohm's Law. I will not bore you by making you read the entire law, suffice it to say that it describes the nature of electrical conductance and resistance. His surname (Ohm) has been taken to symbolize electrical resistance, quite a significant honor for a very humble man (his work was not appreciated by the scientific community until he reached a rather old age.)

Answer: Ogedai

Under Ogedai's reign, which lasted from 1229 to 1241, the Mongols charged into eastern Europe, entered Tibet and China proper, began their siege of the Korean peninsula and invaded the Middle East. Through the work of Ogedai's Mongol forces, Genghis' empire was indeed extended, nearly doubling within 30 years of the latter's death. Ogedai's keen leadership abilities, received through the direct training of his father, were largely to thank for this Mongol success.

Answer: Oersted

Hans Christian Oersted's most famous experiment was a simple one. He ran a current through an electric wire, which he then used to deflect a magnetic needle. His experiment led to similar experiments by Arago, Ampere and Faraday, all of whom acknowledged Oerstead's influence. It is reasonable to suggest that he is the first to have recognized the connection between electricity and magnetism, thus the title of 'Father of Electromagnetism'.

Answer: Otto I

Otto I was the founder of the Holy Roman Empire in 962, but perhaps this was not the first Holy Roman Empire. Many claim that Charlemagne was the first Holy Roman Empire when he was crowned by Pope Leo III on Christmas, 800 A.D. Charlemagne's kingdom crumbled following his death, as he split it among his three sons. At the very least, Otto was forced to reconstitute the empire, and his empire would last for many centuries longer than Charlemagne's!

Answer: The Ottomans were able to capture Vienna in 1529

Othman I was the first emperor of one of the longest surviving empires in human history (lasting from 1293 to 1922 A.D.). The Ottomans enjoyed marvelous success during their first few centuries, controlling Egypt, much of the Middle East and a large section of southeastern Europe. They ended the Byzantine Empire's reign in Constantinople in 1453, and were only stopped short of conquering much of western Europe in Vienna in 1529.

Answer: Augustus

Octavian was a great-nephew of Julius Caesar, and later became his adopted son. He was a member of the Second Triumverate, following the death of Caesar, and eventually defeated the murderers of his adoptive father. Later, he deposed his fellow triumvir Lepidus, and defeated the other triumvir, Marc Antony, at Actium in 31 B.C. He became the first emperor of Rome, and reigned for over 40 years during the period of 'Pax Romana.

Answer: Otto

Nikolaus Otto was born in 1832, and lived until 1891. After being influenced by the inventions and ideas of Etienne Lenoir, who had already built a two-stroke internal combustion engine, he built a four-stroke engine with enough power to propel an entire automobile. His engine was the prototype for millions and millions that would follow. It was the motive force of the automobile revolution. Thank you for trying this quiz, I hope you have learned a thing or two. Please let me know if I missed any of your favorite people. (Oh yes, and please try the others in this series!)